RE: New iSeries Purchases ? "Family loyalty"; IBM's big mistake (IMHO)

["Andy Nolen-Parkhouse" <aparkhouse@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Would you believe that IBM told a client that they would NOT sell them
a
> new
> software subscription, since they had gotten their subscription
through a
> BP?

There is another perspective here.  When software subscriptions first
started coming up for renewal, IBM sales reps would start calling up the
customers three or four months prior to the expiration date.  The
customer, who often didn't see much difference between IBM and the
business partners, would buy the renewal from IBM.  This was a massive
betrayal of the business partners who had sold the machine and the
subscription in the first place.  Subscription renewals were one of the
sources of revenues on which the business partners were counting.

While there are scummy business partners (and BPs who did not have good
enough records to know to sell the renewals), it is good that IBM
stopped stealing from their partners.  A customer could choose to sever
their relationship and then buy from IBM I would imagine, but IBM's
refusal was probably based upon severe beatings administered through the
business partner sales channel.

I realize that this is a special case in that the customer had never
purchased a software subscription, thus it was not a renewal.  But there
is a reason for IBM's hesitation.

Andy Nolen-Parkhouse